Follower-block for filing-cases.



J. HATHELD. FOLLOWER BLOCK FOR FILING CASES. APPLICATION mzo JULY 18. 1916.

1,231,154 Patented June 26,1917.

JOHN HATFIELD, OF BROOKLYN, YORK, ASSIGNOR TO UNIVERSAL STEEL CABINET COMPANY, INC., OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

FOLLOWER-BLOCK FOR FILING-CASES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 26, 1917.

Substitute for application Serial No. 5,914, filed February 3, 1914. This application filed July 18, 1916.

- Serial No. 109,907.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, JOHN HATFIELD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Follower-Blocks for Filing-Cases, of Which the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to filing cabinets or cases, such as used largely for filing away loose sheets or reference cards. Such devices are usually embodied in a drawer which forms a part of the cabinet and which is pulled out so as to expose the cards which are filed in the drawer. As such cards or sheets often accumulate or diminish from time to time it is customary to provide a follower movable within the receptacle or drawer which can'be adjusted to any position in the drawer to suit the quantity of cards held in it.

A principal object of my invention is to produce a very simple and efficient follower for this purpose.

'A furtherobject of the invention is to provide a device of this kind which can be adapted with great ease to a metal drawer or receptacle,- such as referred to above.

Further objects of'the'invention will appear hereinafter. A preferred embodiment of the invention is'illustrated in the accompanying drawing and describedin the ac companying specification, while the broad scope of the invention is set forth in the appended claims. --In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a perspective showing a receptacle or drawer for sheets or cards and illustratingthe preferred embodiment of my-invention.

Fig. 2is a cross-section taken through the card receptacle or drawer, and illustrating one construction and arrangement of my device.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line of-Fig; 2, but simply showing the follower block.

Fig. 4: is across sectional view taken I through a card drawer or receptacle and showing a modified form' of my invention employed in connection therewith.

Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken through the modified form of follower block. Referring more particularly to the parts, 10 represents a receptacle or drawer in which thesheets or cards are to be filed, the same being held preferably between the head 11 of the drawer and the follower block 12. While the invention may be applied to drawers or receptacles of any kind, I have illustrated it, by way of example, as applied to a drawer formed of sheet metal. This drawer presentstwo oppositely disposed substantially parallel side walls 13, between which the follower block 12 moves and is adjusted in position relatively to the number of cards held in the drawer. I prefer to form a guideway along the walls 13 for the follower block. I prefer to employ for this purpose a yieldable rail 14 which extends longitudinally along the wall 13 at each side. These rails 14: are disposed a short distance from their corresponding walls so that they form a channel or guideway 15.

In the present instance I prefer to form this.

rail 14 as a flange, which is produced simply by bending over the upper edge of the plate out of which the wall 13 is formed. The follower block 12 is preferably in the form of a thin plate forming a transverse wall or partition in the drawer, and the ends of this plate are preferably formed with integral ears 16; these ears are attached in any suitable manner, but preferably by welding to the shoes 17 Each of these shoes 17 is constructed to, slide in its correspondingguideway 15, and each shoe preferably consists-of a substantially rectangular plate, the bottom edge of which rests on the bottom 18 of the drawer, the upper edge running in the guideway 15 and being disposed between the yieldable rail or flange-1 1 and the wall 13. i

In order to hold the follower 12 fixed at any desired position within the drawer so that a smaller or larger space will be pro duced between it and the head 11, in which the cards may be held, I prefer to provide a locking device, which is preferably in the form of a lever 19, which lever is preferably rotatably mounted on a pivot or pin 20 at tached centrally on a boss 21 on the rear face of the plate or follower 12. This lever 19 has an arm 22 extending toward one of the walls and a similar arm 23 extending toward the opposite wall. The ends of these arms are preferably formed with cam edges 24. At any point on the lever, such as a point directly Over the pivot 20, I prefer to provide a handle or arm 25 which extends upwardly and which may be seized so as to swing the lever. If the lever is in the position indicated by the dotted outline 19 the follower block 12 will be unlocked and free to be moved along the drawer, but if the lever is swung toward the left, the arms 22 and 23 will tend to come into a horizontally alined position, such as that shown in Fig. 2, in which the cam edges 24 will engage with the inner faces of the yieldable rails or flanges 14, and force them outwardly so that they will frictionally clamp and hold the upper edges of the shoes 17.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a slightly modified form of the locking device, and which in some instances may be preferred to the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 8. As will be noted by reference to Fig. 4, this modified locking device includes a lever 19 which is pivoted at 20" to the plate or follower 12. The lower end of the lever is formed with a cross head 21 having pivoted thereto at 22', the two links 23, the outer ends of these links in turn being pivoted at 24 to the sliding arms or bars 25, the inner end of each arm having an open ended slot 26 receiving a guide pin 27 carried by the follower 12. Each arm also has an elongated slot 28 which receives a pin 29 carried by the plate or follower 12, the two pins and two slots for each arm guiding and limiting such arm in its inward and outward sliding movement under the manipulation of the lever 19.

Of course when the lever is brought to a vertical position with its cross-head parallel to the longitudinal edges of the follower 12, the ends 30 of the arms will be pushed out against the flange rails 14, and lock the follower 12' against movement while when the lever is tilted or swung out of its vertical position the ends of the arms will be withdrawn from the flanges 14 and the follower 12 thus released so it may be readily shifted in the box to a desired position.

If the follower block isnot to be permanently held in the drawer I prefer to provide an arrangement for enabling it to be at opposite sides of the pivot point 20,-

taken out of the drawer when desired, and in order to accomplish this I prefer to cut away the upper edges of the walls 13 so as to form gaps 26 near the head 11 of the drawer. In other words, the flanges or rails 14 are cut off at this point and gaps are formed wide enough for the shoes 17 to be slid upwardly out of the drawer.

It is understood that the embodiment of the invention described herein is only one of the many embodiments or forms the invention may take, and I do not wish to be limited in the practice of the invention nor in my claims to the particular embodiment set forth.

l/Vhat I claim is: V

1. In a filing case, in combination, a receptacle for the cards or sheets to be filed having a side wall with a yieldable guide flange extending along the same, a follower block movable along said receptacle and having a shoe lying between said flange. and the adjacent wall and guided by said flange, and means on said follower block for pressing said flange against said shoe to clamp the block at different positions in sa1dreceptacle.

2. In a filing case, in combination, a receptacle for the cards or sheets to be filed having a side wall with a yleldable guide rail extending along the same, a follower block movable along said receptacle and having a shoe lying between said rail and the adjacent wall and guided by said rail, and means on said follower block for pressing said rail laterally against said shoe to clamp the block'frictionally against the s1d e wall of the said receptacle at different positions in said receptacle.

3. In afiling case, in combination, a receptacle for the sheets or cards to befiled having a pair of substantially parallel side walls, each having a yieldable guide flange extending along the same, a movable follower block. having a shoe at each end disposedbetween each wall and its flange to move along each of the said walls, alever pivotally mounted on said block and having an arm extendingin each direction from the pivot point to a point near the said wall, said arms each having a cam edge for engaging one of said flanges to clamp its corresponding shoe against the side wall of the receptacle.

4. In a filing case, in combination, a receptacle for the cards or sheets to be filed having a pair of substantially parallel side walls formed of metal, yieldable flanges integral with said walls extending along the same cooperating with the walls to form a guideway, a block to move in said receptacle between said walls and having shoes guided between said flanges andsaid side Walls respeetively, and a lever pivotally mounted on In testimony whereof I aifix my signature saiddbloek having arms extending inhoppoin the presence of two Witnesses.

site irections from the pivot point t ereof,

said arms having cam edges engaging said JOHN HATFIELD yieldable flanges for pressing the same Witnesses: against the corresponding shoes to clamp Loms J. HALBERT. the same against said side Walls. M. BLOHM- Copies of this'patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

